Roundup: Pointers win volleyball regional

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Up until last season the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point volleyball program had never won an NCAA Division III regional championship.

Now UWSP can claim back-to-back regional titles.

It wasn’t easy but the sixth-ranked Pointers won the Midwest Regional for the second straight season, edging Cornell (Iowa) 17-25, 25-20, 25-19, 19-25, 15-11 on Saturday night at Schoenecker Arena.

The Pointers (32-4) advance to the NCAA quarterfinals in Newport News, Va., on Friday against an opponent yet to be determined at 12:30 p.m. The win was the 20th in a row for UWSP, which also reversed a four-set loss to Cornell (26-7) on Sept. 13.

UWSP senior setter Alexis Hartman was named the regional MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by Emma Brunkhorst.

“Cornell is a really well-coached team, so I knew they'd come out with a good game plan,” Pointers coach Abbey Sutherland said. “They're a tough team to play when they're passing well because they run a fast offense.

“We slowly but surely got better touches on the ball and played better defense.”

In the winner-take-all fifth set, the Pointers ran out to leads of 4-0 and 9-4. Cornell closed within 13-11 before the Pointers closed out the match. A kill by Tiffany Stargardt gave UWSP match point, and a Rams’ attack error ended the match.

“I was just trying to keep the players right in the fifth set with the roller coaster we were on," Sutherland said. “I told them this is how the story is scripted — this is how it's supposed to be.

“We really had to fight and battle for that win, and it's tough to believe,” the coach added. “To be able to say that we repeated as regional champions, that's incredible.”